Enterprise
Greater cost efficiencies and improving environmental sustainability are the top drivers behind IoT adoption among today’s businesses, recent research by Inmarsat, the world leader in global, mobile satellite communications, has revealed.
More than half (54 per cent) of respondents stated that cost efficiency is the top driver behind their adoption of IoT technologies, followed by improved environmental sustainability and greater supply chain insight (both 48 per cent). Despite these benefits, many organisations continue to face several key barriers when deploying IoT – with a lack of in-house skills and a lack of reliable connectivity in the deployment phase (37 per cent and 24 per cent, respectively) chief among them.
Despite the accelerating speed of IoT adoption over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, improvements are still needed to draw the optimum benefits from the technology. Unreliable connectivity, inadequate data strategies, and a lack of skills are hampering many businesses’ ability to reap the rewards of IoT.
Around half of those seeking cost efficiencies or improved environmental sustainability (52 per cent and 53 per cent, respectively) felt their investments met or surpassed their expectations – yet for those with a formal IoT strategy in place, these figures were notably higher, at 73 per cent and 71 per cent respectively.
Equally, a higher proportion of organisations not struggling with connectivity challenges also achieved greater cost efficiencies and sustainability improvements (71 per cent and 72 per cent, respectively). Yet a quarter (25 per cent) of all organisations suffer from a lack of consistent and reliable connectivity post-deployment, hindering their ability to achieve the same.
The IoT skills barrier is also hampering organisations’ efforts to achieve their IoT ambitions. In those without a formal IoT strategy in place, this is particularly acute. A large proportion of this group continues to struggle due to a lack of in-house skills to support their IoT projects, particularly post-deployment (47 per cent). This is more than halved in organisations with a formal IoT strategy (21 per cent), showing they are better equipped with the skills needed to solve issues uncovered during IoT deployment.
Commenting on the findings, Mike Carter, President of Inmarsat Enterprise said: “The efficiency gains and cost savings IoT can deliver, in addition to the huge environmental benefits, paints a clear picture as to why most organisations are pursuing IoT. However, to get the optimum benefits from their IoT deployments, organisations must ensure they have all the right skillsets and connectivity requirements in place. The research shows that organisations struggling to implement the right connectivity strategies are lagging behind their peers, and those with a formal IoT strategy are better placed to reap the benefits of optimised and more sustainable operations.
“We can see that too many businesses still struggle to deploy IoT projects due to unreliable, insecure, or poor connectivity. This is where satellite IoT connectivity can play a key role. Some of the most valuable data often hails from the hardest to reach places, so investing in effective collection, storage and analysis of that data is crucial to successful IoT strategies.
“Inmarsat ELERA, our industry-leading narrowband network, is ideally suited to the rapidly evolving world of IoT. The billions of devices being connected every year are benefitting from global reach, extraordinary resilience, and the fastest speeds, along with the smallest, lowest-cost terminals in their class. ELERA is inspiring new possibilities and enabling organisations from all sectors to access IoT anywhere. It will be a catalyst for the next wave of world-changing technologies, so organisations looking to accelerate their IoT deployments need look no further than Inmarsat and our global partner ecosystem – the widest of any satellite provider – to solve their IoT connectivity needs.”
The Inmarsat Research Programme report ‘Industrial IoT in the Time of Covid-19’ focuses on measuring the IoT maturity of global industry during the Covid-19 pandemic and the rise of digitalised production and supply chains. It analyses a number of key themes such as adoption, connectivity, data, skills, security and investment.
The report is based on interviews with 450 global respondents across the agriculture, electrical utilities, mining, oil & gas and transport & logistics sectors in early 2021, a year after the start of the pandemic. Respondents from businesses with at least 250 employees from the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific responsible for delivering IoT initiatives at their respective organisations were surveyed.
As part of the research, Inmarsat is also offering businesses the opportunity to measure their IoT readiness versus the respondents in the survey, using a free IoT maturity tool.
To use the IoT Maturity tool and download the full report – ‘‘Industrial IoT in the Time of Covid-19’ – visit: https://www.inmarsat.com/en/insights/enterprise/2021/research-programme-2021-industrial-iot-covid-19.html
Inmarsat is the world leader in global, mobile satellite communications. It owns and operates the world’s most diverse global portfolio of mobile telecommunications satellite networks, and holds a multi-layered, global spectrum portfolio, covering L-band, Ka-band and S-band, enabling unparalleled breadth and diversity in the solutions it provides. Inmarsat’s long-established global distribution network includes not only the world’s leading channel partners but also its own strong direct retail capabilities, enabling end to end customer service assurance.
The company has an unrivalled track record of operating the world’s most reliable global mobile satellite telecommunications networks, sustaining business and mission critical safety and operational applications for more than 40 years. It is also a major driving force behind technological innovation in mobile satellite communications, sustaining its leadership through a substantial investment and a powerful network of technology and manufacturing partners.
Inmarsat operates across a diversified portfolio of sectors with the financial resources to fund its business strategy and holds leading positions in the Maritime, Government, Aviation and Enterprise satcoms markets, operating consistently as a trusted, responsive and high-quality partner to its customers across the globe.
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Jonathan Sinnatt / Matthew Knowles
Corporate Communications, Inmarsat
Tel: +44 (0)788 960 5272 / +44 (0) 7725 476 507
[email protected]
Nicole Roberts
Ogilvy PR
Tel: +44 7920 536 993
[email protected]
James Grisbrook
Director of Marketing and Communications
Tel: +44 (0)7872 158548
[email protected]
